Davin Joseph, Aaron Sears, Jeremy Trueblood and Donald Penn all are expected to start after being the core of the line last season.  Of those four, Sears is entering his second season while the other three are entering their third years.  All except Penn are high draft picks, with Joseph a first rounder and the expectations are high.  Jeff Faine was signed from New Orleans to replace John Wade at center.  The 6 year vet counts as an elder on this young line along with 10 year vet Luke Petitgout but that does not mean the group is lacking in experience.  They have lacked a game-to-game consistency so far and that will need to change this year.

The potential is there for the Bucs to boast one of the best o-lines in the league as there is a lot of talent in this group.  The signing of Faine could and another year of experience could put them over the top.  I think Jeff Garcia makes his o-line look bad with some of the mad scrambles and big hits he takes but there is improvement to be made in pass protection as well.  This group will need to be air tight in order to keep Garcia on his feet and out of harmʼs way for a full 16 games.  Itʼs going to be tough but it will go a long way towards defending their division title.

Joseph and Sears could form the best guard duo this season if everything goes well.  Both are big, move well and play with fire.  Their strength is run blocking and if they can bring their pass protection up to that level they will quickly be elite performers.  Trueblood and Penn could be really good but I think they are solid and nothing more.  Trueblood is so tall that it can be leveraged against him.  He is another that plays with passion and is an excellent run blocker.  Penn became the starter last year when Petitgout went down and performed admirably but the team could still improve at the all important LT spot.  I still believe the team is due to draft a tackle in the first round and fully complete the line. 

Faine is being counted on to be the glue that holds everything together for this young group and be the lines source of ignition.  Heʼs not real big or strong but heʼs smart and feisty and should fit right in.  It sorta seems like they replaced Wade with a younger version of himself.  Faine is going to have to be markedly better than Wade for this signing to be a success.  The teamʼs ability to run inside with Ernest Graham may dictate their offensive capabilities.  His signing was great in theory, but it remains to be seen in execution.

There will be a tough battle between the veteran Petitgout and Penn for the right to protect Garciaʼs backside but Penn should walk away with the job.  Iʼve never seen Petitgout as anything resembling a LT and I think he needs to be on the right side to be most effective.  Heʼs injury prone and may be better suited to a backup role at this point but he still provides the only viable alternative to Penn at LT.  Heʼs a lunchbox kind of guy and will show up to play every day.

The team drafted Rutgers tackle Jeremy Zuttah in the third round and unless Bruce Allen and John Gruden know something we donʼt, and considering their track record itʼs unlikely, this pick was a reach.  Zuttah is under sized, will have to switch to guard and is not overly strong.  He probably could have been had in the fifth round or later.  Itʼs tough to see him making an impact. 

There is quite a bit resting on the shoulders of a few this season for Tampa, chief among them a developing offensive line.  This group could have a lot to say about how the season goes for the Bucs.